Available

Available online
online at
at www.sciencedirect.com
www.sciencedirect.com

ScienceDirect
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
Transportation
Transportation Research
Research Procedia
Procedia 00
00 (2016)
(2016) 000–000
000–000
ScienceDirect www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia
Transportation Research Procedia 24 (2017) 212–219
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia

3rd Conference on Sustainable Urban Mobility, 3rd CSUM 2016, 26 – 27 May 2016, Volos, Greece

Identification of quality indexes in school bus transportation system

A.
A. Sakellariou
Sakellarioua,, K.
a
K. M.
M. Kotoula
Kotoulab*,, M.
b*
M. Morfoulaki
Morfoulakib,, G.
b
G. Mintsis
Mintsisa
a

a
aAristotle
Aristotle University
University of
of Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (AUTH)
(AUTH)
b
bHellenic
Hellenic Institute
Institute of
of Transport/Centre
Transport/Centre for
for Research
Research and
and Technology
Technology Hellas(HIT/CERTH)
Hellas(HIT/CERTH)

Abstract
Abstract

School
School transportation
transportation is is aa special
special and
and important
important issue
issue for
for society,
society, as
as it
it refers
refers and
and involves
involves aa very
very sensitive
sensitive ageage group.
group. The
The refore,
refore,
the
the appropriate
appropriate design
design asas well
well asas the
the provision
provision of of maximum
maximum safety
safety toto students,
students, areare necessary
necessary actions need to
actions need to be
be taken
taken into
into account
account
for
for the
the smooth
smooth functioning
functioning of of aa society.
society. Within
Within the
the last
last years,
years, research
research in in this
this field
field has
has gain
gain interest
interest as
as it
it aims
aims to to identify
identify the
the special
special
features affecting
features affecting the
the school
school transportation
transportation system
system andand determine
determine the
the factors
factors that
that substantially
substantially influence
influence thethe level
level ofof the
the offered
offered
services. The
services. The current
current paper
paper aims
aims toto investigate
investigate qualitative
qualitative factors
factors that
that affect
affect aa school
school transportation
transportation system’s
system’s services
services exeexe cuted
cuted by
by
school buses.
school buses. Firstly
Firstly and
and in in order
order toto identify
identify these
these factors,
factors, international
international literature
literature research
research onon school
school transportation
transportation has has been
been
undertaken revealing
undertaken revealing that
that the
the relating
relating information
information is is neither
neither completed
completed nor nor sufficiently
sufficiently documented.
documented. Secondly
Secondly and and in in order
order to
to define
define
the most
the most important
important qualitative
qualitative factors
factors and
and assess
assess the
the existing
existing school
school transport
transport system,
system, aa questionnaire
questionnaire survey
survey is is conducted
conducted to to parents
parents
of private
of private highhigh school
school students
students in in the
the area
area ofof Thessaloniki.
Thessaloniki. Finally,
Finally, the
the conclusions
conclusions of of the
the investigation
investigation areare analyzed
analyzed and and factors
factors
that need improvement in the existing school transportation system are identified. In addition, a school
that need improvement in the existing school transportation system are identified. In addition, a school transportation satisfactiontransportation satisfaction
index is
index is estimated
estimated andand byby using
using linear
linear regression
regression analysis,
analysis, the
the factors
factors that
that influence
influence itit are
are determined.
determined. The The definition
definition of of the
the
satisfaction index permits the sector of the school transportation system to prioritize the necessary interventions
satisfaction index permits the sector of the school transportation system to prioritize the necessary interventions to be implemented to be implemented
and
and shed
shed light
light on
on the
the user
user satisfaction
satisfaction impact
impact ofof these
these interventions.
interventions.
©
© 2016
2016 The
The Authors.
Authors. Published
Published by
by Elsevier
Elsevier B.V.
B.V.
© 2017 The Authors.
Peer-review under Published by
responsibility of Elsevier
the B.V. committee of the 3rd CSUM 2016.
organizing
Peer-review under
Peer-review under responsibility
responsibility of of the
the organizing
organizing committee
committee of of the
the 3rd
3rd CSUM
CSUM 2016.2016.

Keywords: students’
Keywords: students’ transportation;
transportation; school
school transportation
transportation quality
quality factors;
factors; students’safety
students’safety
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +30-2310-498441; fax: +30-2310-498269.
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +30-2310-498441; fax: +30-2310-498269. E-mailE-mail address:
address: nilia@certh.gr
nilia@certh.gr

1.
1. Introduction
Introduction

School
School transportation
transportation isis aa special
special and
and important
important issue
issue for
for society,
society, as as it
it refers
refers to
to aa very
very sensitive
sensitive age
age group.
group. Therefore,
Therefore,
the
the appropriate design and the provision of maximum safety are necessary actions need to be taken into account
appropriate design and the provision of maximum safety are necessary actions need to be taken into account while
while
organizing
organizing suchsuch aa system.
system. School
School transportation
transportation includes
includes all
all the
the modes
modes of of students’
students’ transfer
transfer to
to and
and from
from school
school units
units
and
and school
school activities.
activities. Walking,
Walking, biking,
biking, use
use of
of private
private cars,
cars, buses
buses andand taxis
taxis areare all
all modes
modes composing
composing aa school
school
transportation
transportation system,
system, while
while students,
students, parents, relatives and
parents, relatives and friends,
friends, teachers,
teachers, drivers
drivers and
and school
school bus
bus attendants
attendants are
are
the
the basic
basic stakeholders
stakeholders (Morfoulaki
(Morfoulaki et et al,
al, 2015).
2015). Each
Each of
of them
them plays
plays aa crucial
crucial role
role in
in the
the whole
whole procedure
procedure and
and is
is
responsible
responsible for for students’
students’ safety.
safety. Parents
Parents and
and teachers
teachers educate
educate students
students from
from their
their early
early age
age about
about the
the rules
rules ensuring
ensuring aa
safe
safe trip,
trip, while
while drivers
drivers and
and school
school bus
bus attendants
attendants constantly
constantly remind
remind and and inform
inform them
them about
about the
the appropriate
appropriate behavior
behavior
they should demonstrate throughout the whole
they should demonstrate throughout the whole trip. trip.

School
School buses
buses are
are on
on the
the top
top of
of the
the list
list when
when referring
referring to
to safe
safe modes
modes of
of transfer,
transfer, as
as these
these are
are designed
designed and
and manufactured
manufactured

2352-1465 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of the 3rd CSUM 2016.
10.1016/j.trpro.2017.05.110
 A. Sakellariou et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 24 (2017) 212–219 213

specifically for the protection of pupil passengers. Statistics suggest that a child travelling by car is seven times more
likely to be involved in a road traffic accident than a child travelling by bus (European Commission Transport Road
Safety, 2004). Similarly, statistics from USA, Canada and Australia confirm that school transportation by buses
presents a high level of safety, just as in Europe. More specifically, the Australian College of Road Safety (ACRS),
claims that bus travel is at least fourteen times safer than the use of private vehicle, while a research undertaken by
the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA, 2014) in the USA, notes that when comparing the
number of fatalities of children aged five to eighteen during the school transportation hours, school buses are 87 times
safer than private cars. In Greece, the school bus transportation is divided into three major categories; private school
bus transportation serving primary school students (door to door services), private school bus transportation serving
high school students (where specific stops are pre determined according to the parents’ needs), public school bus
transportation serving primary and high school students (where specific stops are pre determined by school units in
cooperation with the transport providers) (Morfoulaki et al, 2015). There are particular rules regulating and overseeing
the system’s appropriate function, such as maximum speed limits compliance, seat belts provision, attendant existence
on the bus , mandatory annual roadworthiness controls, installation of signage on the front and the back of the bus,
etc. (School Transport Safety Legislation in Greece, 2009). In contrast with the public school transportation system,
the private school system seems to be more organized. For example, private school students are received and delivered
from/to their residences (which is considered more safer), while for public school students specific stops are
designated for this purpose (which may be located a quite long distance from students’ residences). Moreover, all
private elementary schools provide a school bus attendant responsible for pupils’ safety inside the bus, a service which
unfortunately is not provided to primary school students of public schools. (Morfoulaki et al, 2015)

Safety in school transportation can be determined by many different factors. The violation of traffic laws is a very
common factor leading to an accident. According to a research took place in Athens, 2007, 147 infringements were
identified within a month through 2.623 police controls (Chalkia et al, 2009). The 27,5% of the violations referred to
the non use of seat belt. In a similar research in Athens, 2006, the violations included in a high rate (12,8%) speed
violations. Generally, some of the safety key factors in school transportation are the driving behavior, the vehicle
condition, the driving environment, the student’s behavior while on the bus, as well as the use of technological
equipment which can increase the safety levels.

Taking into account the above, the paper attempts to identify a number of qualitative factors that affect a school bus
transportation system and its safety. Therefore, a questionnaire survey is conducted in parents of students attending
private high schools in the area of Thessaloniki, Greece, in order the most important factors to be defined. Following,
a school transportation satisfaction index is estimated and by using a linear regression analysis the factors that
influence it are determined. The definition of the satisfaction index permits the field of the school transportation system
to prioritize the necessary interventions need to be implemented and sheds light on the user satisfaction impact of
these interventions.

1.1 Qualitative factors affecting a Public Transport System

Today, European countries do not follow a common school bus transportation law and each country sets its own
regulations. Nevertheless, the school bus transportation system subjects to the most stringent regulations when
comparing to other transportation systems. In the current paper, due to inadequate research and literature that exists
on quality and operational factors evaluating a school bus transportation system, a literature review in public transport
systems is preceded, based on the assumption that the school transportation can be considered as a public
transportation system. In order to evaluate the level of service (LoS) of a public transport system, the Transit Capacity
and Quality of Service Manual (TCRP,2013) is used according to which, there are two aspects for evaluating a public
transport system. The first examines the option of using a public transport system (assessing availability) and the
second one evaluates the system against others that are available, in terms of comfort and trip easiness (evaluation of
the provided quality).

The availability of a transport service, is evaluated by a number of factors that affect it. An attractive public transport
system provides stops close to passengers’ points of origin and destination, dense pedestrian crossings, and functional
2
214 A. Sakellariou et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 24 (2017) 212–219

pavements along the routes. Time availability is also important for passengers. Public transport systems providing
frequent services (minimization of waiting time) are more attractive than those providing more rare services.
Information availability is another factor that seems to have an important impact in the selection of a transport service.
Passengers need to know how to use a public transport system, how to access it, what payment procedure they need
to follow and other useful information about the system such as last minute changes in route scheduling etc. Finally,
the capacity availability is a factor highly considered by passengers. Insufficient capacity in a vehicle may affect the
availability of a public transport service. A full bus arriving at a stop, will not be able to serve all passengers waiting
there.

Regarding the evaluation of the provided quality, reliability is one of the most important factors passengers take into
account, as it affects the time a passenger waits at a stop, the accuracy of arrival time at destination and generally the
total travel time. Reliability is influenced by a number of factors, some of which depend on the transport providers’
facilities (vehicles and staff availability, schedule compliance), while some are not (traffic conditions, road
construction and maintenance services resulting in travel time changes). Another equally important factor is safety
and security. Safety refers to the possibility someone could be injured during the trip (e.g. slips and falls) and security
refers to the likelihood of someone becoming a victim of a crime during the trip. A secure bus stop is placed in a safe
area, is enlightened, has benches, shelters, information boards and other useful facilities. Apart from the stops, vehicles
have a significant role too. Passengers want a comfortable trip so they need not too crowded vehicles, with seats that
they could use the time for travel productively (reading etc.), suitable climate control inside the vehicle, etc. Another
significant factor of evaluation is the cost of the service. A proper public transport system should compete the direct
cost of the private vehicle and not be much more expensive. The last factor that someone evaluates in a public transport
system, is the relationship between staff and passengers. A transport system which staff is friendly and helpful, is
more attractive than other.

1.2 Qualitative factors affecting a School Bus Transport System

Regarding the qualitative factors affecting the school bus transportation, the existing literature is rather limited.
However, the existence of appropriate sidewalks along the route from the residence to the school bus seems to play a
crucial role in students’ safety, while poor surface pavements, routes interrupted by trees, light poles or other fixed
obstacles greatly reduce the level of the services provided (Evers et al, 2014). According to Morfoulaki et al (2013),
the distance from the residence to the bus stop, the road network environment, the absence of sidewalks, the absence
of attendants within the school buses and the absence of appropriate seatbelts are factors that highly affect the levels
of services in such systems. Moreover, new technology applications (active information boards at the stops informing
students about the arriving time of the bus, trips rerouting due to emergencies, systems detecting dangerous drivers’
behaviors, etc) are on the top of the list regarding the increase of safety levels. Additionally, Bass et al (2012) support
that for students reaching the school bus by private vehicles, a parking near the bus stop is deemed as necessary. The
appropriate location of the bus stop, (elimination of the need for road crossing by students), slowing down traffic when
a bus reaches a stop are some actions that can enhance a school bus transportation system (Kursius et al. 2002). Such
actions are also mentioned in BUSSTAC research (New Zealand, 2012). Another crucial factor for students’ safety is
the proper design of a bus as well as its maintenance (Transportation Research Board, 2002). Table 1 summarizes
recent findings regarding the qualitative factors affecting a school bus transportation system

2. The research

For the identification of the factors influencing the LoS of a school bus transportation system, a questionnaire survey
was conducted online via Google Forms and massively sent in lists created by the research team for this purpose. The
questionnaire, was based on the qualitative factors being used for the evaluation of a public transport system as many
similarities are identified between the two systems as mentioned above. The target group included parents of private
high school students in the area of Thessaloniki, Greece daily transferred by school buses. The reason for selecting
private high schools is that the school transportation system is more organized compared with the one of public schools
and usually conforms to the international regulations. Moreover, a high school student usually walks from his/her
residence to the bus station and therefore additional factors can be examined regarding this phase of the trip.
3
 A. Sakellariou et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 24 (2017) 212–219 215

The survey was conducted during the school period, lasted 15 days and in total 48 questionnaires were collected. The
sample cannot be considered as a satisfactory one. It is worth mentioning that this was an extremely focused research
which as retrospectively proved the target group was not so willing to participate in. The questionnaire consisted of
five parts; the first one included the respondents’ demographic characteristics, while the second one included the
students’ characteristics. The third part referred to the evaluation of eleven qualitative factors (significance and
satisfaction) regarding the existing school bus transportation system. The qualitative factors referred to all trip’s
phases; walking from the residence to the bus stop; waiting at the bus stop; travelling by bus. At the fourth part of the
questionnaire, additional potential services were suggested and respondents were invited to assess their significance.
The last part included an assessment of the parents’ overall satisfaction regarding the existing school bus transportation
system.

1.3 Descriptive analysis

According to the questionnaire analysis, the sample is consisted of men and woman at the same proportion. Most of
the respondents are 40-50 years old (45,83%) and university graduates. The majority of them possess driver license
and always makes use of the seatbelt. Regarding the students’ profile, 60,42% are girls aged 15 (43,75%). For the
majority of them, the distance from their residence to the bus stop is between 50-150 meters and they usually walk
there on their own. Regarding the bus stations, 31,25% of the respondents claim that safety is not provided while
students wait for the school bus, while the other 35,42% totally disagrees.

The research reveals that all the examined qualitative factors are considered significant regarding the students’ safety
(scores range from 6.40 to 9.31). The respective scores identifying the respondents’ satisfaction range from 4.9 to
7.31, for 11 factors. For the rest twelve factors satisfaction scoring is not required as the specific factors are not typical
of the examined school transportation system.

Table 1 Significance and Satisfaction of qualitative factors affecting a school transportation system

Qualitative Factors Significance Satisfaction

Time/ Walking distance from the residence to the school bus stop 7.44 6.92
Road network and traffic conditions 8.15 4.94
Existence of traffic lights on intersections along the route from the residence to the school
bus stop 8.29 5.17
Suitably designed sidewalks along the route from the residence to the school bus stop 8.48 4.90
Existence of barriers and traffic restrictions along the route from the residence to the school
bus stop 7.79 5.85
Waiting time at the school bus stop 8.02 7.06
Travel time within the school bus 8.27 6.38
Travel costs 8.58 5.52
Seats’ comfort in the school bus 7.38 6.46
Cleanness of the school bus 8.44 7.31
Maintenance of the school bus 9.31 6.63
Existence of Variable Message Signs on school bus stops 7.17 -
Suitably designed and located school bus stops 8.38 -
Existence of sheds in school bus stops 8.83 -
Availability of seats in school bus stops 6.40 -
Existence of attendants within the school bus 7.44 -
Existence of three-point seatbelts on school buses 9.10 -
Systematic control of seat belt use 8.77 -
Existence of systems controling drivers' behavior 9.17 -
School bus arrival time information on school bus stops 8.67 -
Provision of real time information regarding the school route 7.50 -
Provision of information regarding various incidents during the trip 8.69 -
Provision of information regarding route changes in case of emergencies 8.67 -
4
216 A. Sakellariou et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 24 (2017) 212–219

Overall, the total satisfaction of the existing school transportation system scores 6.62 out of 10, leading to the
conclusion that more actions must be promoted in order the safety levels of the school transportation system to be
increased.

1.4 Quadrant analysis

Following the descriptive analysis, a quadrant analysis is also conducted in order the levels of significance and
satisfaction of each qualitative factor to be identified (Figure 1). In case some factors score an unacceptable level of
satisfaction, further actions should be proposed in order to improve the school transportation system.

Significance

Satisfaction

Figure 1 Quadrant analysis of qualitative factors defining the school transportation system

According to Figure 1, significant factors that are not satisfied are concentrated in the first quadrant (suitability of
sidewalks along the students’ trip from the residence to the school bus, existence of traffic lights on signalized
intersections etc) , while significant factors highly satisfied are concentrated in the second quadrant (maintenance of
school bus, time spend on the bus, etc). In the third quadrant there is an excessive satisfaction of factors that are less
important for the respondents (waiting time at the bus station, time/distance from home to the bus station, etc). No
further improvement of these factors is demanded, as they are less important regarding overall satisfaction of the
existing school transportation system. The fourth quadrant includes the factors that are not so significant according to
the survey’s respondents and the perceived level of service does not satisfy them. However, a later improvement could
be attempted in order to examine whether the improvement would have positive effects in the significance of the
factor.

1.5 The LoS model.

A model has been developed for the estimation of the statistically significant coefficients of the perceived LoS for the
current school bus transportation system based on the survey data. Initially, correlation matrixes were calculated in
order to identify the possible relationships between the different variables. A significant number of correlations was
tested leading to the conclusion that most variables are highly correlated, and cannot be concurrently input to the
model. After many trials, the factors providing the best results in the model were found to be “time/distance from
residence to the bus stop” and “information about changes of bus stops or routes in case of emergency incidents
occur”. The correlation between these two variables, which is made by the Correlation Analysis Bivariate method and
specifically the Pearson correlation index is presented in Table 2.
Table 2 Pearson correlation index.

5
 A. Sakellariou et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 24 (2017) 212–219 217

Time/distance Information
house- bus stop about changes
(Satisfaction) of bus stops
or routes in
case of
emergency
incidents
Time/distance house - bus stop Pearson 1 ,091
correlation
(Satisfaction) ,539
Sig.(2-tailed)
N
48 48
Information about changes of Pearson ,091 1
bus stops or routes in case of correlation
,539
emergency incidents Sig.(2-tailed)
N
48 48

Regarding the linear regression model, progressive procedure (forward) of the SPSS program has been used. The
results of the analysis are depicted in Tables 3a, 3b and 3c. In Table 3a the Adjusted R square is 0,964 meaning that
the selected factors describe the 96,4% of the information of dependent variable. Moreover, Table 2b shows that the
prediction of the dependent variable from the independents is a statistically significant. Last but not least, Table 3c
indicates that the coefficients of the selected variables are acceptable, because in both cases confidence intervals do
not include zero.

Table 3a Composition of linear regression model (a)

Model Summary
Model R R square Adjusted R Std. Error of
square the Estimate
1 ,983ª ,966 ,964 1,305

Table 3b Composition of linear regression model (b)

ANOVA
Model Sum of df Mean F Sig.
squares Square
1 Regression 2211,615 2 648,938 ,000ª
Residual 78,385 46 1105,807

Total 2290,000ᵇ 48
1,704

Table 3c Composition of linear regression model (c)

6
218 A. Sakellariou et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 24 (2017) 212–219

Coefficientsª,ᵇ
Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized 95% Confidence
Coefficients Interval for B
Model B Std. Error Beta t Sig. Lower Upper
Bound Bound
1 Time/distance ,480 ,059 ,520 8,068 ,000 ,360 ,600
home - bus
stop(Satisfaction)
3
Information
about changes of ,377 ,050 ,487 37,562 ,000 ,276 ,477
bus stops or
routes in case of
emergency
incidents

The final regression model is presented in Table 2c. The distribution of the noise of the data is normal according to
Figure 2, which is another indicator of the validity of the model.
𝑌𝑌 = 0,480 × (𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡\𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 − 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 (𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓)) + 0,377
× (𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑐𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖)

Figure 2 Distribution of residues of the linear regression model

3. Conclusion

The current study investigates the LoS of the school bus transportation system in private high schools of Thessaloniki,
Greece. The survey conducted, revealed useful information about the significance and satisfaction of eleven qualitative
factors affecting the safety levels of the school bus transportation system according to the parents’ requirements and
needs. Almost all factors were evaluated as significant, with the only exception of the “seats’ availability at a bus
stop”. Although, all factors are considered highly significant, the perceived satisfaction of the current school bus
transportation system ranges in a rather low level. As a result the school bus transportation service as provided today,
needs immediate corrective innervations. The quadrant analysis conducted, revealed that the factors need immediate
improvement are the existence of traffic lights on signalized intersections, appropriate designed sidewalks along the
students’ route from their residence to the bus stop and reduced travel costs. These factors are the most significant
ones but the level of satisfaction is low. As the linear regression model revealed, two factors influencing highly the
7
 A. Sakellariou et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 24 (2017) 212–219 219

level of service is the satisfaction of the time/distance from the students’ residence to the bus stop as well as the
rerouting information at bus stops in case of emergency incidents. These two factors according to the research should
always be kept in high satisfaction levels, as they determine the level of service.

As a next step of this study, an expansion of the existing collected data is recommended. A wider survey is considered
as crucial, in order the results to be more reliable. In this case, a different model may occur, using more factors leading
thereby to more reliable results. Finally, further research is required worldwide regarding the crucial qualitative factors
that determine a successful school transportation system.

References

Australian College of Road Safety (ACRS), school buses, ACRS Policy Position, (retrieved March 2016 from http://acrs.org.au/about-
us/policies/safe-vehicles/school-buses/)
Baas, P., Mackie, H., Edkins, J., 2012. Improving the safety of children who use school buses. Australasian Road Safety Resea rch, Policing and
Education Conference.
Chalkia, E., 2009. Implementation of new technologies in children’s transportation to and from school with school buses. Master Diploma Thesis.
Supervisor: Papaioannou, P., Interdepartmental postgraduate program Planning, Organisation and Management of Transport Systems, Aristotle
University of Thessaloniki (in Greek with English abstract), October.
Evers, C., Boles, S., Johnson-Shelton, D., Schlossberg, M., Richey, D., 2014. Parent safety perceptions of child walking routes. Journal of Transport
& Health, May.
European Commission, 2004. Road safety in school transport study – Final report, Brussels (retrieved January 2016 from http://ec.europa.eu/
transport/roadsafety_library/publications/rsst_final_report_v1.3.pdf).
Kursius, T., Moore, R., 2002. Measures to address school transport safety in Queensland. Land Transport and Safety Division, Queensland
Transport, July.
Morfoulaki, M., Chalkia, E., Mintsis, E., 2013. , Identification and Analysis of User Needs. Deliverable P1.1, Integrated System for Safe Transport
of Students - i-student trip, Thessaloniki, October.
Morfoulaki, M., Kotoula, K., Mirovali, G., Aifantopoulou, G., 2015. School transportation: Determination and Analysis of User Needs in the use
of Technological Equipment which Increases the Security Levels. 6th Hellenic Congress on Road Safety, Athens, Greece 2015.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2011. School Bus Driver In-Service Safety Series
NHTSA, 2014, School Transportation Related Crashes, Traffic Safety Facts 2003-2012 Data, DOT HS 811 890
School Transport Safety Legislation in Greece, F9/48/12042/C1/03-02-2009/Ministry of Education.- G454/3918/427 /26.01.2009/ Ministry of
Education
Transportation Research Board. The relative risks of school travel. A national perspective and guidance for local community risk assessment.
Special Report 269, 2002.
Transportation Research Board, 2013. Transit Capacity and Quality of Service Manual. TCRP Report 165, 3rd edition.